PAST CONTINUOUS

One morning the phone rang at our house in the Blue Mountains, Australia. A journalist from a Jewish-leftist newspaper enthusiastically asked me to make a video piece on a couple that was about to get married. I politely declined. However, when he pointed out that they were 72 year old men who were getting married after 47 years of relationship, I decided to catch the first train to Sydney. I was intrigued to meet them and ask- why did they decide to get married after all those years? Especially since it was clear to me that they no longer needed to prove their love or loyalty to each other. I was expecting a colourful gay wedding but instead I introduced to a regular, religious, even boring wedding. The only difference was that under the canopy there were two grooms standing instead of one.
This ordinary ceremony made me realize that such an event should be held routinely in any country or religion around the world. In the 21st century, Oscar and Ilan are the couple seeking to lead such a move. No matter what your religion is and what country you come from - we all have the right to live a normal life.
I hope that their private story, which contains pain and joy, true sincerity, hope and a strong desire for a change- will inspire young people alongside leaders and legislators across the world.

Beyond the necessary message of acceptance, it is amazing to discover what an abysmal change was made through in almost 50 years regarding the perception of the LGBT community. Yet Prejudice is still prevalent and continue be heard and seen.
Additionally, the film brings to the screen, in a simple and natural way, a refreshing look at the life span of an elderly couple- what they have missed and what they still desire to fulfil in their lives.

Ron Yeshua, the author of the book "The coming out of the closet of Israeli Cinema" tries to answer this question - “Israeli cinema mostly deals with the topic of coming out of the closet. It hardly deals with the crises that gay couples go through, the marital experiences, and how they deal with society in the daily life without their Israeli national cultural baggage…. Another subject which the cinema does not deal with nor the small screen, is the third age of gays. This is an important issue of its kind that is not dealt with enough, neither in terms of cinematic discourse nor in terms of public discourse”.
Ilan and Oscar's story depicts how powerful the individual’s journey can be- how he can cross borders, find out what’s on the other side and demand a change for his home. At the same time their story raises the question of what makes a person resilient and gives him or her the strength to cope with complex reality and thrive.